Epilogue
“I feel like an idiot,” I complained, taking another small step in trepidation.
Violet, who had both hands firmly planted on my shoulders, guided me forward with care. “Don’t worry. I won’t let you trip.”
“That’s not the point.” The blindfold she’d given me was itchy, and I hated not being able to see anything. “You know I don’t like surprises.”
When school let out an hour ago, I’d found Violet leaning against my car, her lips curved into a wicked smile.
Dad or Lydia must have dropped her off, because I didn’t see her sleek Mercedes parked anywhere.
Without bothering to say hello, she demanded my keys, and then we were on the highway, speeding off to God knew where.
I tried asking her questions but only got one response: if I wanted to know what we were doing, I’d just have to wait and see.
Things got even weirder when, thirty minutes into our drive, she tossed a scarf in my direction and told me to tie it over my eyes. I’d already surrendered to the situation at that point, so I figured what the hell?
Which was how I ended up here, wherever that was.
“Believe me,” Violet said in an almost giddy tone, “you’re going to love this one.” Her grip on my shoulders tightened, jerking me to a halt.
“Can I take this thing off now?” I grumbled as my patience wore thin.
“No!” she exclaimed. Two seconds later, a door opened in front of us, its hinges squeaking in protest. “Okay, now I need you to take a big step up.”
Oh hell no. “I’m not climbing stairs completely blind, Vi.”
“You’re not completely blind,” she answered, giving my shoulder a light squeeze. “You have me.”
“I’m curious. Was that actually supposed to make me feel better?”
“Would you stop being a snot for two seconds and listen to me?” she snapped. “We’re almost there.”
It was a shame my eyes were covered, because that meant Violet couldn’t watch me roll them, but I sighed and took a step up.
Then another. A sudden wall of AC smacked me in the face, and I felt Violet shuffle around me, the door screeching as it swung shut.
I waited for something to happen, for Violet to help me forward or give me another instruction, but nothing happened.
Thirty seconds passed.
Sick of not knowing what was going on, I reached up to pull off the blindfold, but before I could undo the knot, someone moved in my direction.
“Violet?” I asked.
A pair of warm arms wrapped around my waist. “Try again.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Xander?”
“If I kiss you right now,” he replied, gently running the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip, “will these kill me?”
“Nope.” I’d been making an effort to avoid eating anything Xander was allergic to. It was difficult, but at the end of the day, impromptu make-out sessions put my favorite foods to shame. “I had a dairy-free salad, an apple, and—”
He cut me off with his mouth. After not seeing him for two months, I melted against his body, sliding a hand up the nape of his neck and cradling it.
Xander’s lips were hot as they moved against mine and…
wow. Just wow. How was it that every kiss with him felt better than the last?
All I wanted to do was spend the rest of the day locked in his embrace.
“All right, lovebirds. That’s enough,” Violet called from across the room. “You can maul each other later. We have to get ready.”
Ready for what? I yanked off the scarf and blinked a few times before realizing we were standing inside Violet’s trailer. The one she used on the set of Lady Phoenix.
Back in January, she’d gone through two quick rounds of auditions before being cast as Kelina Stardust. Less than a month later, preproduction began.
By that time, I’d forgotten all about her promise, the one she’d made the night of her birthday party.
But Violet hadn’t. When she brought me to the first table read, I nearly had a heart attack.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, glancing between Violet and Xander. Judging from the smirk on his face, he knew exactly what was going on. The two were clearly up to something, and I didn’t know how I felt about my sister and boyfriend conspiring behind my back.
“We start filming the night battle for episode three today,” Violet explained. “How do you feel about being an extra?”
“An extra?” I asked, her words not computing.
“You know, an actor who appears in a nonspeaking capacity, usually in the background.”
“You want me to be in the episode?”
She nodded. “That’s the idea.”
“Me?” I repeated.
Xander and Violet exchanged looks. “I think you broke her,” he said.
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing she doesn’t have any lines. You okay with yours?”
He pulled a folded-up booklet from his back pocket—a script. “Got them all memorized,” he said, tapping a finger against his temple.
This shook me from my daze. “You’re going to be in the episode too?”
“Violet felt bad about my fight scene being cut from Immortal Nights,” he explained, “so she hooked me up with a guest spot. Hope you don’t mind sharing the spotlight with me.”
“Holy shit, we’re going to be in an episode of Lady Phoenix together.” It was hard to imagine that only six months ago, the two of us had met at Comic Con. Xander hadn’t even heard of the comic back then.
“We are,” he said, grinning at me.
“Are you nervous?” I asked as a sudden burst of anxiety shot through me. I knew it was silly to worry since I didn’t have any lines, but my stomach was suddenly a fluttery mess.
“Me?” He scoffed. “Not a chance.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled. Xander had always been a positive, self-assured person, but lately I’d noticed a new level to his confidence. Not in an off-putting, egotistical way but in a charming manner that made people pay attention.
I contributed a small part of this change to Oliver.
Xander told me that during the Asian leg of their tour, his bandmate had apologized, not just for what happened at Comic Con but for all the times Xander had been overlooked and shunted aside at events, and he promised things would change moving forward.
But the majority of the transformation came from his song.
Right before JJ sprained his wrist, Xander had performed “Indigo Skies” solo at the Heartbreakers’ concert in Tokyo.
Multiple videos of his performance went viral, prompting Alec to release the song straight away.
Besides the beginner’s recurve bow Xander gave me, the best Christmas gift I’d received was watching a song I contributed to climb the music charts.
Xander and Violet already had an interview lined up with Alternative Press, and they’d be shooting the music video around the band’s tour schedule.
“Hey,” I said, perking up as I remembered the news I’d read this morning. “Did you hear that Rhythm of Your Heart is getting published?”
Xander drew back and gaped at me. “That fan fiction? The one about me?”
“Yep.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “Is that even legal?”
“If they change your name? Sure.”
“But what’s another guy name that starts with X? Xavier?” He scowled. “Because that doesn’t sound pretentious as hell.”
“Well, that’s way better than Xylophone, which was the first X word that popped into my head.”
“They can’t name me after a dorky musical instrument. I’m the badass leader of a rebel group, remember?”
I let out a small laugh. “Pretty sure you don’t get a choice in the matter, but hey, if the book does well, maybe it will get a movie adaptation, and you can play yourself?”
“They should cast The Rock to play me instead.”
“Yeah, I can really see the resemblance.”
“I don’t know. I think he could pull it off.”
“That’s a nice dream, babe,” I said, patting him on the arm, “but I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you.”
Hair and makeup only took an hour. Since I was an extra, there was no wild transformation into a Disney character, alien, or monster.
I would be portraying a plain old human, and even though Xander was a guest star, he would be too.
When I looked at our reflections in the mirror, I couldn’t help but smile.
Not only were the two of us living our best lives, but were together and happy, and wasn’t that a dream come true?
Just as the hairdresser finished teasing my ponytail to soaring heights, Violet poked her head inside the trailer.
“Xander? Indie? You all done?” she asked. “We’re ready for you on set.”